Sunday, December 23, 2012

Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours


Wishing everyone a safe, happy Holiday filled with love and laughter...and a peaceful New Year.

Warmly,
-Amber, Scott, Skylar and Ethan 


(The Tasty Alternative will be back to regular posting in a few weeks).

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Homemade Photo Cards: An Inexpensive Way to Create a Thoughtful Homemade Gift Using Your Favorite Pictures

I'm no photographer, but I have a decent camera and take some really nice pictures...often by accident.  But card-worthy pictures nonetheless.  I love making homemade gifts and last year I started using my favorite pictures to make bunches of "greeting" cards (sans the greeting), so I guess they would be called photo cards.  Here's why I love this idea: (1) it's super inexpensive, (2) it's personal, (3) it highlights where you've been and what you've done throughout the year or in the recent past (for example I have many pictures of beautiful Tahoe, Napa Valley, other beautiful parts of Northern California, even some photos of our trip to the East Coast), and (4) it's functional (your gift can actually be used).

I find the card stock at Michaels Craft store.  I get the large cards with envelopes (25 in a pack for $4.99), which comes out to about $0.20 per card.  And I use Costco to print the pictures (prints are $0.13 here).  So total cost for each card is around $0.33.    

I made a pack of 10 cards for Sky's teacher this year.  I'm also making her a batch of these chocolate macaroons from The Urban Poser.  Sky will make a homemade card to top off the gift.  I'm really happy with the combination of a sweet, healthy treat and functional gift.  Last year I made Sky's teacher a gift of tea (that included local raw honey, a cute honey spoon, an organic lemon, organic loose left tea, and tea dipper/infuser, along with pumpkin pie bites). 

And last year for my family, delicious homemade coconut ginger granola.  

Here are some easy homemade beauty gift ideas: homemade lotion, body spray, coconut oil bars, soap, sugar scrub, homemade natural chapstick.  

I hope this post inspires you to make a homemade gift this year!

Photo Cards

Glue the back of each picture 
Fit securely on the folded card 
Make sure to personalize each card 
Place envelopes on the bottom and cards on top.
Finish by wrapping with pretty hemp twine 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Allergy-Free Wednesdays Week 48: December 19 & 26th, 2012 (running for two weeks)

Hello and welcome to Allergy-Free Wednesdays (AFW).
  AFW is a weekly blog hop where folks can share their allergy-free cuisine, gain knowledge about allergy-related topics/issues, and connect with others living or caring for someone with food allergies.

This is a weekly blog hop hosted by myself and six other fabulous allergy-free bloggers.  Your weekly submissions will be shared on all 7 blogs!  Check back each week for reader favorites and recipe highlights.  

Before linking up - PLEASE click HERE to review rules, guidelines, and legal information.  Thank you!  
_________________________________
Featured Recipes & Highlights

Each week AFW features the most most popular recipe from the previous week, and the six AFW hostesses will highlight their favorites.  Please note that your submission must contain a link back to our Allergy-Free Wednesday's Blog Hop in order to be featured.  Click HERE for last week's entries and the appropriate back link.  

So without further ado...

May I present you with the most popular submission (most viewed by readers):

Guilt-Free Pecan Pie Cookies
(grain free & vegan)
   From:  Allergy-Free Alaska 


And here are the three fabulous recipes/posts I chose to highlight:

Health for the Holidays: green juice recap & video!
From: Renaissance Woman 


Glazed Rolled-Out Sugar Cookies + Snicker-doodle Recipe
(free of: grain, dairy, cane-sugar, soy)
From: Cooking Gluten and Dairy Free


Gluten Free Christmas Cake
From: Gluten Free, SCD, and Veggie 
  *
Thanks for visiting Allergy-Free Wednesdays!
And thanks for being awesome and reading through our guidelines before linking up!
_________________________________

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Allergy-Free Wednesdays Week 47: December 12, 2012

Hello and welcome to Allergy-Free Wednesdays (AFW).
  AFW is a weekly blog hop where folks can share their allergy-free cuisine, gain knowledge about allergy-related topics/issues, and connect with others living or caring for someone with food allergies.

This is a weekly blog hop hosted by myself and six other fabulous allergy-free bloggers.  Your weekly submissions will be shared on all 7 blogs!  Check back each week for reader favorites and recipe highlights.  

Before linking up - PLEASE click HERE to review rules, guidelines, and legal information.  Thank you!  
_________________________________
Featured Recipes & Highlights

Each week AFW features the three most popular recipes from the previous week, and the six AFW hostesses will highlight their favorites.  Please note that your submission must contain a link back to our Allergy-Free Wednesday's Blog Hop in order to be featured.  Click HERE for last week's entries and the appropriate back link.  

So without further ado...

May I present you with the most popular submission (most viewed by readers):

Gingerbread Donuts with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting  
   From:  Allergy-Free Test Kitchen 

And here are the three fabulous recipes/posts I chose to highlight:

Your Skin is a Window to Your Health — Don’t Douse It With Toxic Chemicals
From: Real Food Forager 

Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Almond Spread
From: Gluten Free Easily 

Millet Anise Shortbread Cookie Recipe
From: Penniless Parenting 
  *
Thanks for visiting Allergy-Free Wednesdays!
And thanks for being awesome and reading through our guidelines before linking up!
_________________________________

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Ode to Cafe Gratitude Part II ~ Almond Vanilla Coconut Milkshake


I took a short morning trip yesterday, with my son, to Berkeley to check out some products at an eco-friendly home improvement store.  Ethan is such a great traveler - we have fun listening to music, he enjoys looking through his National Geographic magazines, and loves finding the many cows grazing about in the fields (lots of farm land in between Davis and San Francisco).  Berkeley is only about a 50 minute drive, so perfect for a quick trip.   

I spent an educational hour meeting with super friendly staff and looking at various eco-friendly, non-toxic flooring, paints, and natural fiber rugs.  As mentioned a few times on FB, we purchased a home (just got the keys last week) and now we have 30 days to make a few major improvements.  I've been a busy girl meeting with engineers, contractors, pushing permits through, etc.  My main focus right now is ordering the flooring.  I've done a ton of research on flooring options and found the perfect option.  I look forward to sharing the information with you soon.  

Anytime I visit Berkeley I ALWAYS allow some extra time to stop by my favorite restaurant, Cafe Gratitude.  CG has a variety of delicious milkshakes and my absolute favorite is called "I am Grace."  It's made with coconut ice cream, dates, almond butter, and vanilla bean.  I figured out how to make my own version of this at home, incorporating all their ingredients.  This is such a treat and I love it with their raw deep dish pizza.  Crazy good ya'll
Almond Vanilla Coconut Milkshake

Ingredients:
-2 cups Coconut Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (ingredients include: coconut milk, honey, dates, and fresh vanilla bean). Vegans use maple syrup in place of honey.
-2 cups dairy free milk (I like it with homemade almond milk or walnut milk)
-2 tablespoons creamy almond butter
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

How To:
1.  Add above ingredients to a blender (high speed or otherwise) and blend until everything is full incorporated.  
2.  Add in more milk or ice cream to create your preferred consistency.     
3.  Enjoy anytime of year!
Shared on: Raw Foods Thursday, Wellness Weekend 

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Allergy-Free Wednesdays Week 46: December 4, 2012

Hello and welcome to Allergy-Free Wednesdays (AFW).
  AFW is a weekly blog hop where folks can share their allergy-free cuisine, gain knowledge about allergy-related topics/issues, and connect with others living or caring for someone with food allergies.

This is a weekly blog hop hosted by myself and six other fabulous allergy-free bloggers.  Your weekly submissions will be shared on all 7 blogs!  Check back each week for reader favorites and recipe highlights.  

Before linking up - PLEASE click HERE to review rules, guidelines, and legal information.  Thank you!  
_________________________________
Featured Recipes & Highlights

Each week AFW features the three most popular recipes from the previous week, and the six AFW hostesses will highlight their favorites.  Please note that your submission must contain a link back to our Allergy-Free Wednesday's Blog Hop in order to be featured.  Click HERE for last week's entries and the appropriate back link.  

So without further ado...

May I present you with the most popular submission (most viewed by readers):

Thumbprint Cookies 
(gluten, dairy & cane-sugar free)  
   From:  Sandi's Allergy-Free Recipes 


And here are the three fabulous recipes/posts I chose to highlight:

Raw Creamy Garden Soup
From:  Gluten Free Cat 


Paleo Biscotti
From:  Jen's Natural Kitchen 

Phytic Acid: Friend Or Foe
From:  Modern Alternative Kitchen 
*
Thanks for visiting Allergy-Free Wednesdays!
And thanks for being awesome and reading through our guidelines before linking up!
_________________________________

Total Pageviews