These are a Few of My Favorite Things

I am beyond excited about my Christmas present this year. Of course, I was the one who got it for myself, but non the less! Isn't she a beaut? I've been wanting one for years and it's finally mine! I've already used it a ton of times in the past few weeks and it's amazing!

I've been doing a lot of experimenting and baking and cooking lately. I'm really enjoying figuring out new recipes that fit into my diet. I have been missing some of the restricted foods lately though. Mainly Chinese and Mexican. You just can't gluten free, dairy free those with the same results! I told Adam the second I'm done nursing he is taking me to our favorite Japanese food restaurant for a FEAST of soy filled goodness. Another one of those things you can't eat without a restricted ingredient. I'm so incredibly thankful for the knowledge we have now about everything! If I could just add butter and eggs back into my diet I'd be fine not adding anything else. I realized to over this past seven months how much junk Ruby would have been consuming had we not had such a rude awakening with Quin. It's better all around! 

This is me with my sisters doing some Black Friday shopping at Target. We waited in line for a couple hours and the item we wanted was sold out before we even set foot in the door. Oh well! It was an adventure! (Can you tell it's midnight by how tired I look??)

 We obviously don't get four seasons here in Southern California, but I was enjoying this tree.

 My very favorite book and movie series of all time is Harry Potter. I got the whole series of Harry on Bluray! YES! You may not believe it, but I'm a scifi buff. I think it's probably due to the fact that my dad is and I've been watching things like the x-files since I was a wee little child. There's something so amazing to me about things that just cannot happen. I like them and they don't scare me. It's a whole different world and it's so clearly unreal. On the other hand I HATE real life movies that are sad or scary.

 Another thing I've been really excited about is grabbing these amazing deals on a site called opensky.com. I got some referral credits and was able to score this fantastic balsamic/olive oil trio and a bottle of olive oil from South Africa! I paid less for both than you would for a cheap bottle of olive oil at the market. SCORE!

 The highlight of my month was going to a resort for a "moms" day out. My friend Jackie celebrated her birthday in style and brought us along! Her hubby spoiled all of us to an hour long massage and then lunch of the terrace overlooking the ocean. It was pure bliss! They had a spa and lounge to hang out in and we took full advantage of everything!!!

 The next series of pictures are all of my baking delights from the past couple of weeks. These are the pumpkin chip muffins I came up with and created over the weekend. They are DELICIOUS! Seriously, you wouldn't know they are gluten free and vegan!

This is Elk stew! It turned out so good I'm sad it's gone. Adam's uncle Mike went on a hunting trip over Thanksgiving and gave us some of the elk he caught. I did a lot of research before making stew and it was honestly fantabulous! 

 These cinnamon rolls are gluten free and vegan and turned out pretty good! I am a cinnamon roll fanatic so I'm really hard to please. I'll say that they were good, but there is most assuredly something lacking that you just can't accomplish without butter and flour. Don't be fooled though, we ate the entire tray within two days. (I saw we but really I should say I.)

 This is a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread that was FABULOUS! Seriously tasted like real bread and toasted so nicely. Perfect breakfast loaf with some vegan spread!!!!

This may very well be my favorite thing I've made so far. It's dairy free fudge! Who would have thought you could create something so creamy and delicious and chocolatey without ANY dairy whatsoever? It's simply divine. I can't rave enough about how lovely it is.  

I've never made candy before, but I was in the mood to try something new and decided on truffles. These are myan spiced truffles, and the flavors EXPLODE on your pallet. They had orange zest, cinnamon, chili pepper and salt. The flavoring is very complex and interesting but incredibly pleasing. They are very smooth and rich yet bright and vibrant! I really like them a lot and am glad with my choice! 

My sister bought Adam and I a set of mugs for Christmas along with two Le Creuset dishes. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them all!!!!!!! Now I need to start collecting more Le Creuset pieces. Next up, the dutch oven.