The Cupcake Bandits

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Ryan Gosling "The Goose" Special Needs Meme #4

Ah Autism...if you had a theme song your theme song would be "More Human Than Human" by White Zombie. The song is all based on the movie, "Blade Runner". I never got the line "Nothing like having a itch you can't scratch." out of my head. I feel like Autism is in fact more human that human. More of everything. More emotions. More sensory input. More obsessions. Just more. Then they want more. More of everything. More than most children.

Natalie has taken to smashing her head into walls, throwing herself down into objects, biting herself, and things of that nature. I reached out to the teacher to explain the situation. Now there is talk of a behaviorist, respite, and documenting "self harm" events. I'm almost joyous. Anything to help Natalie. I cannot say enough about this school the girls are in. I feel like we all work together. Unlike a lot of what I see in society to include media. Autistic children are looked at like they are robotic freaks without feelings. Right now I feel like I'm living in a bubble with the girls. Home. School. Home. School. Home again. I don't know what the future holds but I'm going to cling to this bubble for as long as I can.

Ok. So. It's Ryan Gosling Special Needs Meme time again with Sunday. I have some sensory needs myself. What with 50 Shades of Grey out and loved by women everywhere I thought I'd spice up Ryan this week. Although I never read the book I feel like I have considering that it's everywhere. I'm very much a BDSM kind of girl...and have been since before it was the book. (that makes me legitimate right?) Personally, I think it's just awesome that people are getting in touch with...their needs. I've also seen a lot of flak from the more conservative side saying that this sort of thing is sick. Everybody is different. I say embrace who you are. Don't apologize for it. Be happy.

Tropical Frozen Yogurt Pizzelle Sandwiches Using Chef's Choice Pizzelle Pro

Tropical Frozen Yogurt

Slowly but surely summertime is creeping up. My family naturally eats healthier in the warmer month because the availability of fresh produce not just from my garden but from all around us. We live in a big agriculture community. We have everything from millionaire farmers to small home gardens ready to share their harvest. Having said all that I still want dessert sometimes.

Alan's health has been my priority. He's had too many health scares to count this year for me to ignore it. I have to watch all the stuff that makes food taste so good. Sugar, salt, carbs and fats. I have vowed that if I am going to make a recipe that contains any of these items I will use something better than what I have in the past. Instead of regular table salt we use sea salt. Instead of sugar we use honey and even granulated honey. Instead of butter I'll use olive oil. Instead of frying I'll bake. That doesn't mean I don't make treats every now and then...but day to day this is what I do. What's more I've learned to cook without sugars, salts, and carbs. It's pretty easy. The only thing that becomes a problem is fat. Sometimes no matter what you have to use it.

Bzz Agent offered a sample of Filippo Berio in exchange for some buzz about it I accepted readily since it's actually my preferred brand of Olive Oil. I knew I wanted to make a dessert because the making something savory is simple. I wanted to show that you can make healthier desserts that are satisfying.

When Chef's Choice sent me their PizzellePro Express Bake it was like serendipity. I made the pizzelles with Filippo Berio olive oil instead of butter which is traditional. Chef's Choice already had a recipe in the instruction booklet to use veg oil instead of butter so I used that. The Chef's Choice 835 Pizzelle Pro Express Bake was super easy to use. Nothing stuck not even once. There is a little green light to tell you when the pizzelle is done. It's very accurate unlike a lot of appliances. It's a great way to have cookies without heating up the entire house with the oven. Clean up took all of two seconds. Recently we've had some near 90 degree weather so I hauled out my Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker and made some frozen yogurt. The pizzelles turned out to be the perfect size for frozen yogurt sandwiches. Perfect for that warm spring evening!

Tropical Frozen Yogurt by Momma Cupacke

For Frozen Yogurt:

5 oranges, squeezed

2 mangos, diced

1 papaya, diced

1 cup of pineapple, chopped

1/2 cup honey

1 pint of vanilla Greek yogurt

Simply puree all the ingredients together in high speed blender and add to your ice cream maker. Follow manufacturers instructions. When ready use ice cream scoop to help form the frozen yogurt onto the pizzelles. Freeze for half an hour. Enjoy!

Disclosure: I received the Chef's Choice Pizzelle Pro Express Bake & the Filippo Berio Olive Oil free of charge in order to facilitate this post. This is not an unbiased consumer review but a unpaid product endorsement.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Ryan Gosling "The Goose" Special Needs Meme #3

After taking a two week break from blogging I'm feeling refreshed. I highly recommend that every blogger take a break once in a while. Believe it or not there is a whole world out there!!! I can't even believe I've done this for almost five years now. I'm happy to be back to play with "The Goose" on the Special Needs Ryan Gosling Meme with Sunday and my fellow special needs bloggers.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Excalibur Food Dehydrator Review: Strawberry Shortbread

I've always wanted a food dehydrator ever since I began to garden. Sometimes produce comes so fast there isn't any room left in the fridge, freezer, pantry, underneath the house, in the bathroom to the point where I have have to foist it on my husbands co-workers. Last year I didn't preserve at all which was a big mistake. It meant I was making tons of food for the right now..not for later. This year I'll be freezing, canning, and dehydrating.

The people at Excalibur were kind enough to send me their 4 Tray Starter Dehydrator (2400 Model).

The very first thing I made was Buffalo chicken jerky with left over raw chicken from the prior night.. The smell of the chicken as it was drying...unf....it drove everyone crazy. It was gone so quickly I wasn't able to take a picture of it. The second thing I dehydrated were strawberries on the verge of going bad. I figured at the very least my husband could use them in his oatmeal. The strawberries had a chewy/crunchy consistency. The taste was this unreal strawberry flavor with a huge burst of tartness. I could imagine them in muffins, pancakes, waffles, anything really. As it turned out today I wanted to make some cookies because Cupcake Bandit Madeline had been ~~pestering~~ asking me for cookies for a few days. I was going to just make some shortbread when an idea popped into my head. Why not Strawberry Shortbread? Shortbread by itself is amazing. But Strawberry Shortbread? Forgetaboutit. It's like summer in your mouth..with this buttery, crunchy, and intense strawberry flavor. If you don't have a dehydrator don't worry as you can buy this stuff in your bulk foods section.

I have plans for my dehydrator. I'm going to make homemade yogurt. I'm so excited about it! I've wanted to make homemade yogurt for years. And Alan can't wait till the hot peppers grow so I can make dry rubs and mixes for cooking. The dehydrator comes with a booklet that tells you what temps you need for say beef vs. fish or veggies vs. fruit. They have recipes for brines but also for AFTER you dehydrate. Over all I'm very impressed.

I really want to thank the people at Excalibur for letting me try out their awesome product.

Strawberry Shortbread

by Momma Cupcake

4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3 stick unsalted butter. cubed

1 cup of dried sliced strawberries

1/2 cup strawberry preserves

Preheat oven at 350 F. Butter a rectangular pan and set aside. In stand mixer, add flour, dried strawberries and salt. Pulse for 30 seconds. Next add strawberry preserves and mix on low until flour becomes pink. With mixer still on low add in butter a few cubes at a time. Once all in turn up mixer to medium and beat until it comes together to form a firm dough into prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. While hot cut shortbread into squares. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Disclosure: This is not a consumer review but a unpaid endorsement of product. I received the 4 Tray Starer Excalibur Dehydrator in exchange for this article.