Life---Natural Green Food Coloring--COTM CANCELLED

Yes, so it's true I have made it through the month of February without doing cupcake of the month. And honestly I don't think I have failed, as life just got in the way this month. And since it's snowing outside and my cable went out I thought I would blog tonight, but then I realized I have not updated things in awhile.

So life is just sucking right now! How I would love to go to sleep and wake up to 1-1-2013 and start the year all a-new again. But I can't, I have to wake up every morning and deal with what is on my plate.

On my plate is; my father in law not doing well at all. My mother is freaking out because she is in early renal failure and thinks she is dying. Planning a rummage sale for the school. Working on our garden. Hubby not doing so well health wise and will be going in for an iron transfusion soon. I have a son that has had so many food issues lately that it just seems like I can not get a grip on things with him.

Speaking of food issues. Now I have done my research on crappy foods. I have looked into food colors, I have researched until I was so very sick and just could not read anymore. It's just sickening. I often wonder how can a parent give a child this crap, because it's not food, and then expect this child to behave? They can't. Bodies can not absorb crap, they reject it and that is where you see the acting out. Seriously google FD&C red 40. Google the coloring they use in go-gurt it's not pretty. Why can't we follow Europe's lead and ban these food colors?

A parent can do this because they don't do the research. They "trust" companies that put out food they buy to pack their children's lunches with. HA! And then because this parent gives their child crappy foods the body can not accept and the body (child) acts out, people start to wonder what is wrong with this child? The parent gets tired of hearing bad school reports, can't get the child to behave at home, takes them to the doc to drug the child, because it's the child, it can't be the food I feed the child? Then a child is put onto a roller coaster of uppers and downers. And did the parent read the fine print to these drugs? It should be law that a parent MUST read the fine print. Did they read all the side effects? Including could cause death? So parents would rather chance death then remove all the crappy foods from the child's diet? I'm very confused over this?

Now back when every doctor wanted to drug my child with adhd drugs I kept saying no. One night was so very bad I was about to give in and call the doc in the morning. But that night I researched adhd drugs. I was sickened by what I read. I was in tears on how bad things have become in the drug world. After all these years and all of research I don't think there is something called adhd, I do think there is an underlying cause. You just have to dig, and often parents and especially doctors are too lazy to look for the underlying cause, because removing crappy foods from a child's diet doesn't pay the bills, giving the child drugs, drugs and more drugs pay the bills.

So I have been on a quest to find good natural food coloring. So in place of cupcake of the month, I give you a natural green food coloring. Now I'm not over joyed thrilled with this green no. BUT it's a green and it's natural and kids won't be bouncing off the walls when they eat my cupcakes. Plus my green comes with health benefits!

So here is my baby, I made these for Valentines day. I think they looked pretty cool?

So Friday is Dr. Seuss's birthday we celebrated early at school. The blue and red food colors came from natural candy store dot com. The recipe is from Cybele Pascal here, I will tell ya if the house was burning and the kids were safe I would grab this book before leaving the house. Every recipe has been amazing. This is her white cake.

Followed by Cybele's vanilla icing. I used the blue and red here, looks more like purple and peach?

And here we have it. Natural Green Food Coloring....Green Tea Powder. I went to our local tea store after researching last night and got me a container. I wanted to practice because we have St. Patty's day coming up. Plus we have a birthday tomorrow so this works. With every child's birthday in my son's class I always make a batch of cupcakes so my kids have something safe to eat. Plus many kids in the class really enjoy my chocolate gluten free cupcakes. (even better then gluten ones) So I'm more then happy to make them.

Allergy Free Wacky Cake

Totally Cool and Awesome....I was attempting this for Dr. Seuss's birthday party coming up. Just to see if i can really pull this off. Well I think I can pull it off, not to mention 3 boys ate half a cake in one setting...Poor cake never saw it coming!

Wacky Cake
By Marcie Dingerson

1 Cup coconut milk mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar set aside
1 tablespoon egg replacer mixed with milk and set aside

5 minutes later

Mix together

1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 cup sugar (I used 3/4th's cup)
1/4 cup coconut oil melted
Coconut mixture
Egg Replacer mixture

Mix then add in

2 Cups Bob's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix.

I took about 1/4th cup out twice into two separate bowls. I turned one bowl blue and one red. I poured the white batter into the cake pan. I then put in drops of colored cake batter in and swirled around. I baked at 350 for 25 minutes.

I got these colors at The Natural Candy Store they are crap free...We like crap free around here. First time testing the blue. Very happy with it.

The New Fence

Pictures are not great...BUT...You get the picture...Get it you get the picture. We took a fence along the back of our property. Giving us about 20-25 feet more of growing space. We will put 5 more trees back there. One reason the rush was on, we will be getting the trees soon. Goats like to eat trees.

This is on the inside of the fence these beds are over 30 feet long. These are Cherry Trees. I should get Cherries this year.

This is a LOT of extra room.

These are pear trees I think I will be doing a blueberry patch here as well. Need to think on that. My Raspberry bed is here also.

My new double gate. Pretty.

So this was done in one day...Still have clean up to do. Need to go back and add is some missing screws and make sure everything is buckled down. We will work on that over the week. But latches are on and goats have not snuck through yet. 

Money Update

It's been a long couple of weeks in our lives. Family issues, snow, lights going out for weeks on end. Expanding the garden, getting ready for spring. And then there are the money issues.

First we were all set to re-fi the house, rolling the van loan into the Mortgage in turn saving us over 300 a month. BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT apparently the housing market has tanked and our appraisal came in so very low. And I mean low. So in turn we are doing a streamline, basically a loan without an appraisal it's a loan for those, who have made all their house payments, who will continue to make them, but want to capture the low rates on the market now.

In turn we can not roll the van loan into the Mortgage. So doing this will save only about 100 a month, giving us a little breathing room every month paying that Mortgage payment. We still have a van payment every month. So now we have a new goal of paying off the van this year.

Taxes are done and it's just enough to pay the school what we owe for the year and calling it good. I am Thankful for that, but things have changed from last year and we are not seeing what we got the year before. Which sucks because we could use that money, but yet Grateful we can pay the school, so I'm not complaining.

So I now need to sit down and re-work everything about our budget. Come Friday we start to use our new pre-paid debit cards. Should be interesting since I have never used one, let alone a credit card. I think I will like not having to go to the bank 2-4 times a week. Saving me from dealing with a bank I really don't like, and gas money driving there. It's a trial, nothing set in stone. So we will see what happens there.

So our current money goals are...

Paying off the van currently at 4169.42

Increase money going into mutual fund

Open a Roth IRA for retirement

Fund the garden expansion

Get a few dollars saved. 

Well the power was out for a week, and I was stuck here in the freezing cold I dove into my new book, (well new to me)(Thanks Goodwill) Dave Ramsey The Total Money Makeover. I have to say we have been through hell and back with money and medical bills and doing everything we can some months to pay the Mortgage. There were times we had no TV or lights (during the summer)(camping at home) to pay the Mortgage. But I worked 60 plus hours a week to get those medical bills paid off. I really didn't learn too much reading this book. But I do highly recommend everyone reading this book. I do understand his steps. I also highly believe his course needs to be taught in schools. I think high school kids can get a LOT out of Dave Ramsey. We were pretty much on a good track. We do a weekly budget, I keep track of every penny. But I believe in teaching kids early. How many kids are not taught about money before leaving High School and then you get into College, and then a job and marriage and you know NOTHING about money. That is what sinks you. I know NOTHING. I was taught NOTHING.

Kids need to be taught the value of a dollar. They need to be taught about not going into debt and paying cash and saving. They need to be taught this and that before going into the world. And sadly I don't think anyone is teaching kids anything about money and so in turn failing in this department. I know my parents failed, and I am refusing to fail my kids.

 So we will pay off the van, and work on Mortgage and work on retirement. I'm not trying to worry about College. That will come another day. I think it's more important to pay down the house. What a dream that would be to pay that off. It would be nice to retire one day so we need to work on that as well. Hitting small goals, but keeping an eye on the big picture.

On that note, I showed Ethan a math problem in the Dave Ramsey book. Basically you take x amount of money over a working career so every month for 40 years and 12 % interest you would have x amount to retire on. That number was freaking big. He saw that number and was like OMG. So we had a chat about saving allowance and how we will match his savings and add it to his account every month. He has a mutual fund opened. Of course Tucker heard everything and must of course beat Ethan at this. Ethan has a goal to be at 500 by the end of the year, he has like 200 and something. Tucker has a goal of 600 he is currently at 300 and something. Trying hard to out do his brother. We will see what happens here. Nothing like Brotherly Love right?

Later....