We all know that everything tastes better with bacon…and with Super Bowl Sunday coming up soon, who doesn’t love an easy, yummy appetizer? These are definitely “crowd pleasers” and are usually one of the first appetizers to be completely eaten.

**NOTE: A WATER CHESTNUT IS NOT A TREE NUT*** (we looked it up at the last party I took these to because one child had tree nut allergies)

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

1 lb. bacon, cut width-wise into thirds
2 cans whole water chestnuts, drained
1/2 c. gluten free BBQ sauce
toothpicks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2...

This morning I woke up craving a donut…a cake donut with chocolate glaze. And, since I’m not working for the rest of 2014, I decided to make some…after I worked out. 🙂 These took about 30 minutes from start to finish and my kids devoured half of them (the recipe made 1 dozen) in no time.

• 3/4 cup gluten free flour
• ¼ cup  sugar
• 3 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup nondairy milk
• 1 egg (or you can use 1 Tbs. flax meal mixed into 3 Tbs warm water and set aside until it forms a gel)
• ½ teaspoon gluten free vanilla extract
• 2 Tbs. nondairy butter, melted

• 2-3 tablespoons nondairy milk, d...

A few weeks ago I saw a recipe for frosted eggnog bread on Pinterest that sounded like something my office would enjoy…only there are two of us in the office that are gluten free, and one coworker is dairy free. So, here is that recipe with my modifications. I will note that I haven’t tried making this egg free yet, but as with most of my bread recipes, I think it’ll work just fine if you use 1 Tbs. flax meal mixed into 3 Tbs. of warm water (mix, set aside and let turn unto a gel) for the egg that is called for.

EGGNOG BREAD
1/2 c. nondairy butter at room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. gluten free rum extract
1 egg
2 cups gluten free flour blend
1 1/...

I’m not a huge pie fan, but I’ve always loved the filling for pecan pie. This past spring I tasted some pecan pie bars that had a shortbread crust, so I thought I’d try making them instead of paying $6 for a small bar made by someone else. These are based on a recipe I found in Better Homes & Gardens; I made these and took them to a friend’s house; they were gone so fast that I didn’t even have a change to take a photo of them out of the pan! These will definitely be served at Thanksgiving this year.

Crust:
1 1/4 c. gluten free flour blend of your choice (I like THIS one, but it does contain dairy)
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c...

This past week I wanted a treat, but wanted to make something that didn’t make me feel guilty afterwards. I LOVE coconut candies, so I decided to do some research on homemade Almond Joy bars. I found two recipes from The Clothes Make the Girl and Living Healthy with Chocolate and merged them. Then, I tested them on my “guinea pig” coworkers and they LOVED them!

To make coconut butter:
Put 1.5-2 c. of unsweetened flaked coconut in a blender or food processor with 1 tsp. melted coconut oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and 1/2 tsp. coconut extract. Process for about 10 minutes, scraping down sides occasionally, until smooth...