The Emperor's New Cookies

Many of you know about Taigen's dietary restrictions since seeing the naturopath about his ulcerative colitis. He can't have wheat, soy, sugar & dairy, to name a few things (it is sometimes easier to list out what he can have). Ever try flipping through your cookbook or recipe file and find something that doesn't include those things? Yeah. We didn't have much success either. In the early days, it was like eating flavored styrofoam, to be honest. It's no wonder Taigen lost 45 pounds. Nothing tasted good. He was frustrated and I was tired. He frustrated because he was having to eat stuff that tasted nasty (plain millet & quinoa anyone?) because we had spent money on it (and it's not cheap, trust me) and he didn't want to put it to waste. I was frustrated because I was homeschooling during the majority of my day and cooking like a mad-woman in the afternoon & evenings only to have minimal success. On top of this, our dishwasher was on the fritz so I was having to handwash everything. We can laugh about the failures now, but we weren't necessarily laughing then. We knew there had to be something better out there.

Since those few dark & discouraging weeks, we have been thankful to find a few wonderful recipes online. How people cooked with variety AND flavor before being able to search on the internet for recipes is beyond me. I am looking on a daily basis for great wheat/sugar/soy/dairy free recipes that actually taste good too. I LOVE the internet!!!

A few weeks back I had ordered some almond meal flour online (because I had found a great deal that couldn't be found IN the stores). When the flour came, on the back of the packaging was a recipe for Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yes, my friends, I stumbled upon a treasure. It was gluten, dairy, wheat, sugar, soy free. And, believe it or not, I had all of the ingredients on hand. We decided to test it.

They were delcious. I even liked them. The kids even liked them. We've given it to guests to try because they don't believe us when we say they are really good. They even liked them. Now, I'm not going to tell you that they taste just like your mama's chocolate chip cookies, but they aren't screaming "I'm An Allergy Food" either. When telling our Facebook friends about them, my friend AnnaGrace said that they should be named The Emperor's New Cookies (because, of course, there is nothing in them!). This sounded like a great idea to me, so it stuck.

Here, in case you get the urge to eat mega-healthy, is the recipe.

The Emperor's New Cookies
(i.e. Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies)
from the Almond Meal Flour package from Honeyville Foods

2 1/2 cups Almond Meal Flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1 TBS vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave nectar
Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. Mix wet ingredients with dry. Add chocolate chips at the very end. Form 1/2" balls and press slightly onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes (until slightly golden brown).

Jehovah-Jireh - My God Provides!

With Taigen's we are limited at present with how many starches he can eat. That means lots of meat & lots of fresh veggies. We all just try and eat as similarly to his diet as possible that way we're not constantly cooking two meals every night. When starches are taken away from a diet, you quickly realize how much those starches fill you up. Maybe it's the All-American mindset that a perfectly rounded plate MUST contain meat, veggie & starch. We've quickly had to change that mindset in our home.

Another change has been with regards to The Casserole. Most casseroles have some sort of cream or cheese, so we avoid those. I have experimented with brown rice flour and gotten some success. Cream of celery & cream of mushroom soups have turned out nicely and are flavorful. I have yet to make a casserole using them, but the sauces that I've made to accompany chicken or pork have been yummy.

We have been so thankful to have had some friends who have had an over-abundance of some vegetables in their gardens this year. So much so, that they cannot possibly eat it all. God has used them to provide for us in a very tangible way. It's funny, but Taigen's naturopath wants him to eat as much organic vegetables as possible. Well, on our budget, organic doesn't happen, so we just try to eat smart. With our friends' gardens, we have been able to "eat organic." Isn't God good? We just might have to grow a garden next year ourselves!

One night, we got an email from church friends saying that a relative had given them a grocery bag full of green beans that they couldn't eat. They already had a garden and had an over-abundance of green beans themselves. Would we want them? Um...YES!!!

The next day I put the twins to work chopping up green beans (it was their first time for working with knives...they did a great job!). I blanched & shocked them (the BEANS, not the twins) and put them in the freezer. No green beans have ever tasted as good and we were so thankful for God's provision for us.

HBC Annual Spaghetti Dinner & Dessert Contest

Every year the men look forward to donning their aprons, cracking the cookbooks (or daring to sail the uncharted waters of Pinterest) for our church's annual Spaghetti Dinner & Men's Dessert Contest. Remember last year's Super-sized Hamburger? or 2010's Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake? or 2009's Piano Cake?  or our introduction to the serious fun at our first contest?  We've had fun every year. This year was no exception, and even Marshall got in on the fun.

Taigen & Marshall's entry this year came straight off of a find on Pinterest. It looked easy enough. They made a practice one and we all critiqued it as if we were all chefs on Food Network. Taigen and Marshall tweaked things in their mind, and when it came to making it, they were all business. I stayed out of things, and just had fun watching and snapping up pictures.

In the end, they entitled it "Barrel of Goodness." It looked like a giant barrel of M&M's which would have gotten my vote, but actually it was a moist, yellow cake with homemade frosting, surrounded by Kit Kats and tied off with a red ribbon. Doesn't it just look fantastic?

No, they didn't win. But they sure had fun putting it together (i.e. father/son time...priceless). There were tons of desserts at the church: cheesecakes, mousse, sour cream & strawberry cakes, peanut butter balls (made with peanut butter and Velveeta...really!), an espresso cake that looked like it walked right off of a magazine, and so, so much more. In the end, here are some of the winners:

Mike & Nate did the Rubik's Cube/Golf Course cake, Lee did the Strawberry Yogurt Cake & Jerry did the Chocolate Mousse (he came later and I didn't get a picture...sorry!)



Superbowl Fun

Once again this year, we got invited over to our friends' house to watch the Superbowl with his TiVo. I love the fact that if I have to watch a sports game, I can at least get it over with faster by eliminating the commercials and half-time. I really don't mind watching sports...it's just not my thing. My motivation to go is to be with friends. Tee hee. Knowing me, I'd probably make some incorrect comment about football during the game that would make me the laughing-stock of the crowd. I've done it before. Just ask Jason Pileggi. Only that time, it was regarding baseball.

To help celebrate, I made football cookies with the Sour Cream Cookie recipe. These are so much fun and the kids were looking forward to eating them! They really could care less about football, but the cookies enticed them.

Unfortunately, the wife got sick...really sick, and so Taigen ended up going by himself. We sent over the cookies anyway. Marshall, Shaylen and I camped out on our bed upstairs and read a few more chapters in a Nancy Drew! Now THAT'S my way to celebrate the Superbowl!

14th Annual Joos Psychedelic Christmas Cookie Decorating Fest

If you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know that the Joos Psychedelic Christmas Cookie Decorating Fest is one of our favorite things to do every year. Believe it or not, it is the Joos family tradition that everyone mentions. I had a dear friend from church who emailed me this story recently:

We are decorating some cookies with the kiddos tomorrow, and I was searching for the frosting recipe from your cookies to bring.  I could not find the document from when you shared it last year, and was about to write to ask you to send it again.  [My husband] said I needed to use a better search term than "cookie", so I said "Try Psychedelic!"

Confused, he said "Why, is that in there?" which was followed by "Yup, here it is!" 

We made the full recipe as a family to give out last year, and I guess I never shared the "name" - now he knows!

Isn't that hilarous? I had a friend tag me in Facebook photos of their family doing the Psychedelic Cookies last year. We're so glad to share the joy! If you haven't read about the history behind our cookies, you need to go to last year's post and read it. In that post are also links to previous decorating fests.

Do you make the Psychedelic Cookies? Let me know! I'd love to see how yours turn out.

Without furthur ado...here are the pics from this year. I'm still having trouble discerning the difference between the kids' and Taigen's, but that's half the fun, right?

Heaven On A Plate

This, my friends, is heaven on a plate. I decided to make these delectable delights for dessert this coming Sunday afternoon. I have a feeling Taigen is going to have to show some restraint because these look very  tempting, and we all know he has a weakness for cookie dough. These are Cookie Dough Truffles. Yes. Truffles. That would be chocolate dipped cookie dough (minus the eggs...it's held together with butter, sweetened condensed milk, and lotsa love). Believe it or not, they were super easy to make too. I got the recipe here. I decided to dip them in milk chocolate and then pretty them up with drizzles of white chocolate. I had so much fun! Don't you all just want to come on over and try some for yourself?

Superbowl Fun

One of our friends from church invited us over to their house after church on Sunday night. Apparently, her husband had been saving and saving and purchased a nice, big, TV. He wanted to watch the Superbowl game with a few of his guy-friends. What also helps is that he has DVR so they could watch the game from start to finish without the pre-game garbage, pesky commericials and obnoxious half-time shows. Now...THAT'S the way to watch the big game, in my opinion!

I decided to make some cheese dip (chile con queso) and special Superbowl cookies for the party. I thoroughly enjoy making my favorite sour cream cookies. Now that I have some decorating tips I especially enjoy FROSTING them. I also love making the queso. It's so creamy and spicy and full of flavor. It is the perfect accompaniment to a salty corn tortilla chip!

Unfortunately, the Plague whipped through our church the previous week and so the twins and I needed to stay home from the party, but we sent along the special treats with Taigen so he could enjoy the game...well fed.

Sour Cream Cookies

Several of you have asked over the years for the recipe for the cookies we use for the Psychedelic Christmas Cookies. These are similar to sugar cookies, only so much more moist and flavorful. If you enjoy them, then give thanks to my step-mom, Cathy, who shared her recipe with me many years ago.

Here's what you'll need for the cookies.

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sour cream (not fat free or reduced fat...get the real stuff)

2 2/3 cups flour

Cream together shortening, sugar, vanilla, egg. Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add alternately the sour cream and flour. Mix until dough doesn't stick to your hands. Roll out and cut with cutters (make them thick so that they will not be crunchy). Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 425 degrees for about 6-8 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Cool and then frost.


4 cups confectioners sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbs. melted butter

Mix together and divide into small bowls. Then, create the "funkiest" colors imaginable with food coloring. Only then can they be "Joos Psychedelic Christmas Cookies." For those of you who want to make picture perfect cookies, here is what I would recommend: Don't add as much milk at first so that the frosting is thick enough to be piped around the edges. (If you don't have official frosting tips, bags, etc., you can probably use a thick ziplock-type bag and just cut a very small hole in one corner. Think: pencil lead thickness. Just go slowly so you don't burst the bag or glop on your cookie.) You want only a thin line on the edge. Then add the milk to remaining frosting until the frosting is thin enough to "flood" the cookies. In order to get the striped effect, flood the cookie then go back over drizzling the alternate color for fun. It will meld together as it solidifies. They don't look professional, but we sure have a whole lot of fun!

We make a bunch (usually tripling the recipe), frost them, let them sit for a while and then freeze them. Be sure to put wax paper between the layers so that they don't stick together.

13th Annual Joos Psychedelic Christmas Cookie Decorating Fest

Yesterday we had the 13th Annual Joos Psychedelic Christmas Cookie Decorating Fest. I cannot tell you how much we enjoy this annual tradition. It's got to be one of my favorite things during the Christmas season.

Have I told you what started it all though? Once upon a time, a long time ago, Taigen and I decided to make sugar cookies for our first Christmas together. I accidentally doubled the recipe and we had sugar cookies coming out our ears. What were we going to do with all those cookies? We decided to frost them in a very untraditional way with funky colors and give them away. I wish we could've had pictures from that first batch of psychedelic Christmas cookies. Taigen and I had so much fun doing those that our tradition was born. Now, thirteen years later, we're enjoying that tradition with our two favorite munchkins. We had gobs of colors this year and we enjoyed decorating a triple batch (tripled on purpose) to give away (and a few to enjoy).

I want you all to note the Christmas tree shaped cookie that is featured on this post (left). For the first time in the three years that I've blogged about this, I am picturing one of my husband's cookies. Usually, I have a hard time discerning the difference between his and the kids'. Too funny. Be sure to contact him and tell him how beautiful, artistic and masterful it is. Maybe he'll be encouraged to branch out and get in touch with his inner-Martha Stewart more often. (Note: I did NOT picture his green camo-Christmas bear cookie...I don't think I need to explain why.) Of course, I'm joking because we really don't care what they look like. After all, they are "psychedelic Christmas cookies." The key is to have lots of fun, make a ginormous mess and stash away terrific memories, like here, here and here.

A New Fall Tradition?

When Jan Reimers was here for our Young(er) Pastor's Wives Mini Conference, she left a small gift for me. In the bag was a really nice cookie cutter in the shape of a leaf, some fall sprinkles and a leaf candy dish. I was really excited to receive these because I was actually looking for a leaf cookie cutter! Taigen had gone to Michael's and found another fall-type set for me so we had plenty of variety. We had plans to make sour cream cookies while Dad and Cathy were here, but we ran out of time. I had promised the kids that we would make these, so I finally fulfilled my promise yesterday.

Boy, did we make a mess! There were bowls, cups, spoons, knives, flour, powdered sugar, sprinkles, food coloring droppers, cookie cutters, frosting tips & bags and baking sheets all over my island and in the kitchen sink. Of course, some of it spilled onto the floor too. It's overwhelming when you look at the mess to clean up, but of course we had gobs of fun while in the middle of our creative project.

I loved using the fall colors to decorate our leaf and acorn cookies. We made sure to use only colors that we would have found in our area. If you have never seen New England in the fall, you need to come. You'll find reds, greens (dark green from the evergreens and lime green on the leaves), yellows, oranges, rusts and browns. It is spectacular! You really need to come and see it for yourself. Be sure to book the Jooses' Bed and Blessing ahead of time (around Columbus Day is always best).

The cookies turned out great. We used toothpicks this time so that we could get a swirly, vein-y look. AND, I might add, they tasted wonderful too. I took some to my ladies' meeting last night and they were devoured. What a wonderful afternoon with the kids. It just might be the start of a new tradition.

Homeschool Sugar Fest

Last year a few of us homeschool moms got together at the tail end of the summer and planned out some activities/field trips that we could do together since there were so many of us at the church now. One of the ideas that came up was a Christmas Cookie Baking/Decorating day. It was a great idea. Unfortunately, last year's event got snowed out and it was never able to be rescheduled.

Thankfully, as this year's schedule got planned out, they worked in another baking and decorating day. And so far, there's been hardly any snow. After much planning on the part of one of my friends, it all came together for today. The idea was to bake and decorate and then give the cookies to some of our church people.

The kids had a blast. (I'll give you one guess as to one of the reasons Marshall and Shaylen had a good time. The hint is in two of the pictures!)

The church basement smelled so good and the cookies were doused with loads of frosting and sprinkles (and I mean LOADS)! There was a baking station, a decorating station and then another station where the kids could decorate the gift bag. Lastly, there was a packing station. Each type of cookie was wrapped up and gently placed in the decorated bags.

It was so much fun that I'm hoping it turns into an annual event.

12th Annual Joos Psychedelic Christmas Cookie Decorating Fest

Yesterday was the long awaited day. I had made the dough a week or so ago. All that needed to be done was rolling out the dough (and keeping my hubby and kids from eating it all raw), cutting it out, baking and cooling. We had baked all three batches of Sour Cream Cookies on Sunday evening (we had an afternoon potluck and service so we had the evening "off."). The Queen of Questions (i.e. Shaylen) asked about every 15 minutes yesterday, "When are we going to decorate the cookies?"

Sooo, finally we got out all of the fixin's and let the kids (and us big kids) have a blast making the infamous Joos Psychedelic Christmas Cookies. It's been 12 years that we've been doing this. It's probably one of our favorite traditions. With Christmas music playing in the background and us singing and frosting in the dining room, the cookies got their glorious "Christmas clothes" on.

The kids are beginning to distinguish between Daddy's and Mommy's now and Taigen and I got a HUGE kick out of their comments. "Wow this one is so pretty! Mommy did you do that one?" or "I want mine to look just like Mommy's!" Still can't tell much difference between Taigen's and the kids'. They aren't Martha Stewart. In fact, she would groan at the lack of design, but they will still taste just as delicious if not more so because they are made with great joy and love.

My sweater was heavy-laden with frosting and there are sprinkles and nonpareils all over the floor. The floor will sweep, the laundry will be washed, but we have wonderful memories to last a lifetime.

Let the Christmas season begin!

Tradition! Tradition!

Did that instantly put the opening song from Fiddler On the Roof in your head? Sorry. If you know me, you know that I almost constantly have a song going through my head. It can be both a blessing and a curse.

The Tradition song was going through my head last night as I made two batches of fudge. Having fudge at Christmas is just about as much tradition in my life as having a Christmas tree and presents! I cannot remember a Christmas without it. My grandmother made great fudge as did my mom and aunts. For some reason however, I was never able to get the recipe right. They always flopped.

Enter: Taigen's Grandma Rutledge. She was my lifesaver when it came to an easy (and delicious) fudge recipe. It tasted just like what I was used to, but was much simpler to make. I have yet to mess up a batch! It's so easy in fact, that last night I enlisted the aid of my two cute munchkins.

Since Marshall had a fever-free day and was back to his perky, singing-at-the-top-of-his-lungs self, I recruited him to count out marshmallows. Shaylen measured out the chocolate chips & sugar (I'm sure Janelle has very fond memories of this part of the process. She just loves fudge!). Then, I allowed her to stir together the evaporated milk and sugar on the stove just before it started to boil. She looked so cute standing there on her stool. She's quite the cute little helper!

As usual, the fudge turned out perfect. Shaylen is eager to test her very first batch. Can you blame her? What a great way to pass on this wonderful (and delicious) Christmas tradition.

First Flying Lesson

Last night we were so excited to have company over. Two couples from church were able to come over and help us consume the chicken parmigiana and the homemade peanut butter cheesecake (another Taste of Home hit!). This is the first time we've had them over and the Irelands and Tocks were such a joy to fellowship with (but I say that about everyone). The kids were looking forward to having them since we've spent a considerable amount of time with both in their homes.

Mr. Tock brought along a special treat for the kids, but especially for Marshall. He brought one of his remote control helicopters. You should have seen Marshall watching over Dale's shoulder as it was charging. He kept waiting for the green light to turn on. I think that was probably the longest ten minutes of Marshall's life.

Well, it finally did get charged and the boys (and Shaylen) had fun playing. I think I know what to put on Marshall's Christmas list this year!

Li'l Cheddar Meat Loaves

Okay, meatloaf despisers (i.e. Janelle), this post is NOT for you. But for those of you who want an easy dinner for you and your kids, this recipe is a must have. Let's just say that Marshall ate two of these last night and was eying the last one on the platter. I got this recipe out of the 2000 Taste of Home Annual Recipes book (p. 89). It has become a favorite in our family.

Here's what you'll need:
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb ground beef
Sauce:
2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp prepared mustard

In a bowl, beat the egg and milk. Stir in cheese, oats, onion and salt. Add beef and mix well. Shape into 8 loaves; place on a large cookie sheet (I line mine with foil and then grease it for easy clean-up) or in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Combine ketchup, brown sugar and mustard; spoon over loaves. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for approximately 45 minutes.

These are so moist and full of flavor, and a great way to stretch one pound of hamburger to feed your family and friends (that is, unless you have a Marshall-man like we do!) I hope you enjoy these as much as our family does. (Side note: If Janelle can eat caterpillars in Zambia, surely she could stomach some meatloaf, don't you think?)