1 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. + 2 T. arrowroot
1/8 t. salt
1/4 c. butter, softened
1/3 c. coconut palm sugar
1 egg
2 t. baking powder
3/4 c. whole milk
Mix these ingredients well and pour into a greased cake pan or pie pan (8-10 inches)
Next, mix the cinnamon batter together:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. coconut palm sugar
1 1/2 T. brown rice flour
1 T. cinnamon
Drop spooonfuls of the cinnamon batter into the first batter and swirl in any design.
Bake about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
If you would like a glaze on top, mix 3T.coconut palm sugar and 2 T. whole milk in a blender on high. Pour over the cake while its still warm.
This turned out great. Next time, I might try making this with coconut oil instead of butter, and maybe cream of coconut in place of part of the yogurt. But this was flavorful and soft, nice texture.
1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. coconut palm sugar or sucanut
1 c.+ 2T brown rice flour
3/4 c. arrowroot
2 T. coconut flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
6 eggs
1 c. plain whole milk yogurt
1 t. almond extract
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. shredded coconut (unsweetened)
additional coconut for topping the bread (optional)
Mix these ingredients and bake in a large loaf pan (greased with coconut oil or butter) at 350 degrees for about one hour. Top with shredded coconut while the loaf is still warm.
Here is the kind of almond extract I used.
This is a good chocolate cake. I’m going to try tweaking it a little next time. If you don’t want to use stevia, you can replace it with extra honey (an extra 2T or so). I think it would make a good layer cake, too. I would double the recipe for that.
3/4 c. coconut oil or butter, softened/melted
2 T. honey
10 drops liquid stevia
1/2 c. coconut palm sugar or sucanut
1/2 c. cocoa powder
3 T. whole milk
6 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. orange extract
pinch of salt
1/4 c. arrowroot
1/4 c. brown rice flour
1/4 c. coconut flour
1/2 t. baking soda
3/4 t. baking powder
Mix all ingredients well and pour into a small cake pan or glass baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Frosting:
1/2 c. coconut cream (top of canned coconut milk)
1/2 c. dark chocolate bar or chocolate chips
1/4 t. orange extract
Here is the kind of coconut oil I use. I use subscribe & save to save 15%.
Here is the kind of vanilla I usually use. I would like to try to make my own this year.
I’ve used both this brand and the Sweet Tree brand of coconut palm sugar.
I use Bob’s Red Mill arrowroot. iherb.com carries this, also.
Here are some ideas for fun, positive music your whole family can enjoy and dance to.
Michael Ketterer. This is a new favorite in our home. And its only $4.99 for the whole album.
Andy Hunter. This is an old favorite, also only $4.99 for the whole album.
After the party, you’ll want some peaceful, calming music. We’ll be doing the New Year countdown on London time (which is at 6:00pm for us) with our kids, then we’ll all play in the back yard for a while, so they’ll have plenty of time for their relaxing bedtime routines. Here are a few selections that work well for our family.
Theresa Griffith, Utopia.
Theresa Griffith, Somebody Cares.
Eden’s Bridge, Celtic Lullabies.
Any party store will have an assortment of decorations for your New Year’s Eve celebration. But if you would like to save money, and you and your kids enjoy crafts, here are some ideas.
My 8 year old likes pretty much any kind of office supply. This 3 hole punch can make confetti out of junk mail and old magazines 3 times as fast! This confetti should vacuum up without any problems. Maybe do a test run first 
If you can’t find a hole-puncher, have them tear the junk mail into little pieces. Put it in as many bags as you need (1 per child) and save for the big moment.
You can make a noisemaker with a small, lightweight empty food container (cardboard or plastic), tape, beans and some paint.
With a large cardboard box, tape, crayons, and scissors (if they’re old enough), your kids can make a time machine to visit the future (2012 or beyond).
Before the party gets started, help your kids write a letter to their future self. Do an interview with them. What will you be doing in 2, 10 and 20 years? What are your current favorite toys, foods, books, things to do, etc.? When you have some time, write a letter for your kids to open in 2, 10 and 20 years. Tell them what you like about them right now, and how you think God sees them. Seal the letter and write the date of opening (and the name) on the front.
If you have an extra mirror in your closet, bring it to the living room (or wherever the party is happening on NYE). This makes dancing even more fun for the kids.
LED finger lights in 4 different colors, as well as regular flashlights, will add to the festivities.
Coming up in part IV, party music!
New Year’s Eve dinners for us, are made up of appetizers. Something for everyone. I’ll be making buffalo wings with blue cheese dipping sauce for my husband and anyone else who wants to try them. There will be also be (leftover) shredded chicken, cheddar and gouda, lentil chips, carrots, celery and pickles. I might make a greek cheese ball too. Homemade ice-cream on New Year’s Eve is a family tradition.
These lentil chips go great with cottage cheese as well as hummus and other chips. Whole Foods carries them, too.
A couple of the recipes I’ll be using this Saturday: Buffalo Wings and for homemade ice cream, I reserve some of the cream from our raw milk and combine it with milk to make about 3 cups (at least half cream). I wisk in 1/4 c. coconut palm sugar, 1 t. vanilla extract, pinch of sea salt, and 1 t. beef gelatin. After its mixed well, I put it in the ice cream maker for about 30 minutes.
Last year, I made penguin olive appetizers and a Greek cheese ball. For a special kid-friendly drink, combine zevia or ginger-ale sweetened with cane sugar (instead of HFCS) and unsweetened cranberry juice/water combination, or unfiltered apple juice/water combination (1/4 c. water, 1/4 c. juice, 1/2 c. zevia) This has a similar taste to the non-alcholic wines like cold duck, but with much less sugar.
Zevia ginger ale. Whole Foods carries this, too.
Blue Sky soda ginger ale.
Several years ago, we used to live in the Minneapolis area. The city had two fireworks displays on New Year’s Eve. One around 5:30 and one at midnight. The early display is a great option for families. Some kids (like ours) don’t enjoy staying up so much later than normal.
If there isn’t an early fireworks display near you, a fun alternative is laser finger beams. You can have fun with these in your own backyard, since it gets dark so much earlier this time of year. Take some pictures! If you order today (and have prime) you can get them Friday. Party supply stores probably carry these, too.
Here is a well-rated camera under $200. Our old camera stopped working, so we recently bought this one. We’ll be taking pictures with it on New Year’s Eve!
I’ll post part II of Celebrating New Year’s Eve with kids later today. It will include ideas for special snacks and decorations.
Have some extra time this weekend, and want a holiday-themed laugh with your kids? Here are some new and old Christmas comedies that appeal to adults and children.
Mr.Popper’s Penguins. “An uptight NYC man (Jim Carrey) is stuck taking care of six penguins who have been mistakenly left at his doorstep.” We watched this a couple of weeks ago. Both my 8 year old and 2 year old liked it, and we did, too. Jim Carrey adds some of his classic facial expressions to his role in this one.
Elf “A tale of a young orphan who crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts on Christmas Eve and is transported back to the North Pole and raised as an elf. Buddy later learns he is not really an elf and goes on a journey to New York City to find his true identity.” We like so many of the jokes in this one. Our kids haven’t seen it yet, maybe this weekend. I think my 8 year old will like it.
Home Alone “When little Kevin McCallister is accidentally left behind when his family dashes off on a Christmas trip, he is left to defend his family’s home from two bumbling burglars until the relatives return.” I was in 7th grade when I first saw this movie. It’s been quite while since I’ve seen it, so I think we’ll watch it this year.
Muppet Christmas Carol “The Muppet’s rendition of Charles Dickens’s classic tale puts a unique twist on a favorite holiday story.”
Fred Claus “A hilarious and heartwarming comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti about Santa’s brother, and complete opposite, Fred Claus.” This movie does contain a few suggestive jokes. I really like that one of the points of the movie was that there are no naughty kids, every kid deserves a present at Christmas. My husband and I watched it last week.
I taught a Spy Kids class this fall in a homeschool co-op, for the 3rd-5th grade age group. My oldest child really enjoyed it. We learned about geography and foreign lanuages and cultures. And of course, we tried out neat spy gear. If you have a spy in your house, here are some great gift ideas for Christmas or birthdays.
Spy Gear Video Trakr
Spy Science. I found this book at our local library, it had some good ideas for my spy kids class.
Brainac Secret Agent Activity Book
Mission Field Kit. Includes decoy listener, spy wallet and spy vision glasses
Masking tape comes in handy on missions.
World Map
Name that Country game.
Bonjour Les Amis. French made easy for children. Spies must know several lanuages!
The Spy Kids trilogy, for inspiration.
Like science, art is also very popular with children. We’re focusing on science and art in homeschooling right now, since that is where our oldest son’s interests are. I think art is therapeutic too (for parents and children). The neat thing is that it opens the door to other topics, like history. History of science (as seen in the How its Made episodes on netflix ), art history can flow naturally out of the first too, and from that, general history
Young Artist learn to paint set. I like Faber Castell’s art supplies for children. You can find them on amazon (click the picture for a direct link), some bookstores, smaller toy stores, and some craft stores.
Melissa and Doug easel. Chalkboard on one side, dry erase board (this is where the paint roll goes) on the other side.
Melissa and Doug Easel Accessory Set
Melissa and Doug jumbo paintbrushes. Brushes for little hands, this is a good size for toddlers and preschoolers.
Crayola art smock. You could also use an old button down shirt, worn backwwards, as a smock.
Clementine Art Natural Modeling Dough. For kids who are sensitive to the artificial colors that are in regular playdough, this is a great alternative.
Clementine Art Natural Paint, 6 color pack.
Also from the Clementine brand, Art Natural Crayon Rocks.
First Art, a book for introducting toddlers to art.
Fiskars Kids Classic 5-Inch Blunt Tip Scissors Target has their own brand of scisssors that work fine too, they are around $1.
For bold and brilliant color, Crayola makes nice oil pastels.
Big Fun Crafts from Faber Castell
Young Artist Texture Painting Set from Faber Castell
Fun on the Farm set from Faber Castell This would be good for 3-7 year olds.
We have these Faber Castell watercolor pencils. They are fun for parents and kids.
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